Health Status of Maori Children and Young People

Media
Statement Te Ohonga Ake – Report Two
- Health Status of Maori Children and Young
People

“It’s unacceptable to see that despite
the work and investment being undertaken in health to reduce
disparities between Maori and non-Maori, our Maori tamariki
are still dying and suffering from diseases at a higher rate
than others in this country.”

Associate Minister of
Health Tariana Turia commented today on the release of the
second of three reports in the Ministry of Health’s Te
Ohonga Ake series on Maori child health. This second
report focuses on the health status of Maori children and
young people.

“While progress is being made and there
is evidence of reductions in hospital admissions for
meningococcal disease, infant mortality and some types of
injuries, in other areas there has been little change. For
example hospital admissions have continued to increase for
acute rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease, serious skin
infections, asthma and acute upper respiratory tract
infections, pneumonia and whooping cough. Reports like this
are a sober reminder about how much there is still to do, to
achieve the progress we need.”

In March this year, the
first report released described the health of Māori
children and young people with chronic conditions and
disabilities. In 2013, a third report is due on the
determinants of Māori child and youth health.

“While
action is being undertaken in a number of areas to address
disparities highlighted in the report, it’s obvious that
it’s not enough. For example more work needs to be done
across the health sector to reduce sudden unexplained death
in infancy (SUDI) amongst our whānau. The rate of death
amongst our infants is still too high. There is almost a six
fold disparity in SUDI between Maori and non-Maori
infants.

“The report also shows that between 1996 and
2005, Maori children were admitted to hospital with acute
rheumatic fever ten times higher than for the rest of the
population. Yes we have invested $24m, over five years to
reduce rheumatic fever rates through detection, but we need
to be vigilant on all fronts. Otherwise families still
living in damp, cold or over-crowded homes will continue to
be at risk of highly infectious diseases.

“My
expectation is that all government agencies work in
collaboration with health professionals at all levels. Our
health cannot be dealt with in isolation of issues like
education, employment and housing.”

All three
reports are being produced by the New Zealand Child and
Youth Epidemiology Service of Otago University and will be
available on their website and at
www.health.govt.nz.

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